EDITORIAL - Suspended

If there is one thing that erodes the credibility of any campaign against corruption, it is the perception that it is waged selectively. This has been an issue in this campaign, so it’s good that the Commission on Elections has decided to defer action on an unprecedented Malacañang order suspending nearly the entire government of Cebu City over an administrative case.

The Comelec may yet allow the Department of the Interior and Local Government to implement the Palace order, but only after election day. Even the administration should welcome this, if it wants to avoid fueling accusations that it is trying to give its candidates an unfair edge by eliminating incumbent officials belonging to the opposition particularly in vote-rich areas.

The suspension covered the Cebu mayor, vice mayor and 12 of 17 councilors. The order extended the 60-day suspension imposed on Mayor Michael Rama last December for grave abuse of authority for releasing P20,000 in calamity aid to city hall employees in 2013. If the suspension pushes through, the acting mayor will be a councilor married to Rama’s Liberal Party opponent in the mayoralty race.

A Comelec ruling last March 29 banned the suspension of public officials during a campaign period except for violations of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. The DILG sought the exemption in the case of Rama, a member of the United Nationalist Alliance, and the other city officials, but the Comelec decided to maintain the status quo and defer action on the case until after May 9.

Even the Office of the Ombudsman should consider a similar policy for campaign periods. Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada, who has endorsed Sen. Grace Poe for president, has lamented that his family is being singled out during the campaign, with his son Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito being indicted by the ombudsman for graft and ordered arrested. Estrada has also noted that his nephew, former Laguna governor Emilio Ramon Ejercito, is so far the only official to have ever been unseated for campaign overspending. E.R. Ejercito is again running for governor.

Following the example of this administration, the next one may do the same to opponents in future elections. Such acts are unhealthy for the democratic process and can boomerang on the administration. Official campaign periods last only two months. That’s not a long time to defer the suspension of public officials.